Murder of Hindu tailor: Indian cops arrest ‘masterminds’

Indian police made fresh arrests yesterday in the murder of a Hindu tailor in Rajasthan, which had sparked tensions between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority and a clampdown on protests and the internet to prevent them from escalating. Two Muslim men already under arrest for the murder, who filmed the act and posted it online, said it had been a response to the victim's support for a politician's derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The victim, Kanhaiya Lal Teli, had allegedly made a social media post supporting a former spokesperson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party who made anti-Islam comments in May. Three senior police officials yesterday said that two more men based in the northwestern state were being held for planning Teli's murder last week in his shop in Udaipur, a popular tourist destination dotted with lakes and palace hotels. Judges from the Supreme Court of India stated on Friday that the ex-spokesperson, Nupur Sharma, must apologise to the whole nation after her remarks intensified religious fault lines in India, angered Islamic nations and triggered diplomatic strains.